Is an increased appetite a part of vascular dementia?

RayLin, you remind me of a line from a Jack Rosenthal play, said by a distracted mother: "If I made you fresh air on toast, would you eat the toast?!"

My DH doesn't have increased appetite - what he does have is diminished memory and will often exclaim that he hasn't eaten in days. But when I ask if he wants me to fix him anything, he's not hungry.

Sometimes there's just no "rhyme or reason" with what goes through their minds. And yes, I have gotten tired of fixing him food for him to then decide to nap or after a bite, him saying he really isn't hungry.

But every day he is still here is so precious to me.

So I've learned to ask a few questions or derail him into taking his hot cocoa with ice cream. A 1 ounce hamburger and he is stuffed. I'll make him a chicken leg "with" and he always leaves the "with" that was with the chicken leg. Doesn't matter if it's noodles or veggies - but at least I know I offered it.

I agree about asking her physician.

Is she still feeling hungry when she has in fact just eaten a square meal?

A couple of times my mother plaintively asked me "are we having supper tonight?" - once while I was still clearing the table after her full roast dinner followed by apple crumble and custard for pudding, which was a little demoralising.

So with your mother, if it's something similar, this could be part of the vascular dementia; but on the other hand it wouldn't hurt to get her checked out and make sure there isn't anything sinister going on. Any weight loss, any change in bowel habit, anything else worrying?

I'm not sure about that. Maybe, someone who is will chime in. Is she taking any new medications? Sometimes that can affect the appetite. I know that my LO has had it both ways. In one phase of dementia, she had no appetite and lost a bunch of weight. Later, she went on meds for anxiety/depression and her appetite returned and she eats fine now. I wonder if with the memory going, they forget they have eaten, so they want to eat again.